E 711 






/^K^ / C^L/^^^^JcjL^s^ 



MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 

ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF 

HON. WILLIAM McKINLEY 




PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF 

STARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION 






Hon. Thomas T. McCarty, in calling the Bar Association 
to order to hear the report of the Committee on Resolutions, 
said : — 

Gentlemen of the Bar : 

"This meeting — adjourned meeting of the bar of Stark county 
is held on account of the death of our most illustrious brother 
member. Of all the bar associations in the universe it was the 
privilege of our bar to furnish one of the brightest stars in all the 
galaxy of brightness while living, and one of the brightest jewels 
in all the diadems of those who have passed to the other shore. 
Other bar associations, feeling deeply bereaved and keenly the 
loss of the bar at large, have met and adopted appropriate resolu- 
tions. Our bar suifers as a family when a beloved mother is 
stricken down by death, and we are here, gentlemen, having been 
honored as no other bar association on earth has been honored 
in the life of William McKinley, and now suffers deeper and more 
poignant grief than any other bar association does or can suffer, 
to try to adopt appropriate resolutions touching the life and 
death of our own dearly beloved member. Our bar is better, ova 
city is better, our county is better, our state is better, our Nation 
is better; aye, the world at large is better for the life of William 
McKinley; and while we suffer and grieve, let us bow in submission 
to the will of Him, who rules on high, and remember that in the 
"way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is 
no death." 



memorial. 



Tlie members of the Stark County Bar deeply deplore tlie 
untimely loss of the most illustrious of their number in the 
death of President William McKinley. His entire profession- 
al career having been passed in our midst, renders his death a 
personal loss to each surviving member of the bar. 

"William Mclvinley began his active career as a soldier 
in the Union Army. At the call to arms, he dropped his 
books and devoted over four years of his youthful miaiihood to 
the defense of his country in a war for the maintenance of the 
integrity of the Union. Enlisting as a private soldier at the 
age of eighteen years, in a regiment from which have come 
Presidents, Statesmen, Jurists and Scholars, by soldierly con- 
duct, valor and merit, he won his way in actual service from 
the ranks to the position of Major. 

Supplementing his literary training hj the practical ed- 
ucation of the soldier during four years of actual ^var, he was 
fitted to assume and acceptably fill in after life many responsi- 
ble positions, including the trying ofiice of Commander-in- 
Chief of the armies and navies of the country in time of actual 
war. With his character strengthened by the years of disci- 
pline and service seen in the army, his mind stimulated by as- 
sociation with such lawyers as Stanley Matthews and Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes, who were his companions in arms, he resolved 
upon his return to civil life to study and practice the profes- 
sion of the law. IFe was fortunate in his choice of a preceptor 
in the person of the late Judge Glidden, of Mahoning County, 
well and favorably known to the members of this bar. After 

5 



a coui-se in the Albany Law Scliool, he was admitted to the 
bar in 1867, and opened an office for the practice of his call- 
ing in the City of Canton. In the succeeding ten years and 
until his election to the House of llepresentatives of the Unit- 
ed States, for the term beginning March 4th, 1877, he was 
continuously and actively engaged in the practice in this 
County; for one term he ser\'ed with marked, distinction as 
Prosecuting Attorney. His cai-eer at tlie bar gave ample evi- 
dence of that greatness of mind, purity of character, and kind- 
ness of heart, now known of all men, and of which his future 
career gave so many and striking illustrations. To every cause 
he gave a full measure of preparation. He was particularly 
distinguished as an advocate, presenting his causes to juries 
in such fair and just manner as to command their confidence 
and respect. To the Court, upon questions of law, he was lu- 
cid, strong and convincing, never pressing an argument which 
he did not believe in himself. To his adversaries, at the trial 
table, he was ever courteous and considerate, realizing that 
the objects of legal investigation are to an-ive at the truth and 
subseiwe the ends of justice. He always aimed to keep forensic 
discussion upon the high plane of honest difference as to law 
or fact, and never indulged in personalities with opposite coun- 
sel or witnesses. To his colleagues he was ever kind and con- 
siderate, doing his share of the lalx)r in a case, never shirking 
responsibility or with-holding from his associate the share of 
honor and praise which was his due. 

Early manifesting a strong interest in ISTational and State 
politics, he became a careful student of public questions, and 
by his industr)^, natural force and eloquence, soon acquired a 
widespread fame as a political orator and debater. 

In 1876. at the same time his friend and military chief- 



tain, Rutherford B. Hayes, was chosen to the Presidency, 
Major McKinley was elected a member of Congress from this 
District. For foui'teen years he rendered honorable and effi- 
cient service as a representative of the people, advocating with 
zeal and courage those measures which he believed were for 
the best interests of the people; he retired from Congi-ess as 
Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, after fram- 
ing the Tariff Bill, which has gone into history bearing his 
name. Defeated for Congress by a small majority, in a new 
district where conditions made such result inevitable, he fal- 
tered not in his adherence to the principles he believed to be 
best for the public good, but after defeat confidently appealed 
to the people for a vindication of his political conduct, and 
was twice elected Governor of Ohio. 

Chosen to the high office of President of the United 
States, he entered upon its duties on March 4th, 1897. He 
found his country upon the verge of war, the sympathies of 
the ^Kation aroused for a suffering people near our own shores, 
who had long borne with foreign oppression and against whom 
a war of subjugation was being waged by metliods which 
shocked humanity and aroused the just indignation of all civ- 
ilized people. With a firm purpose to relieve their distress, 
and to secure for the oppressed better government and fairer 
treatment, at the same time safe-guardmg our own interests, 
he bent every energy to accomplish this purpose by peaceful 
means. By steady pressure upon the Spanish government he 
obtained many concessions, looking to the better treatment of 
the Cuban people, and seemed in a fair way of obtaining the 
desired ends, when the treacherous destruction of a ship of the 
American nayj, "uith her officers and crew, determined the 
American Congress to demand an end of Spanish sovereignty 



in Cuba. He had been a soldier, and realized the horrors of 
war and the untold suffering it would visit upon innocent peo- 
ple. He remained firm in his determination to prevail by 
peaceful methods, if possible; yet resolved that existing con- 
ditions should no longer prevail in Cuba. AVliile preparing 
for war with tireless energy, he did not relax his efforts for 
an honorable peace until the Spanish government answered 
our demand for its witlidrawal from Cuba and adjacent waters 
by sending passports to our minister at Madrid. 

Knowing that nothing is so cruel as a long struggle at 
arms, he bent every energy of the Government to a vigorous 
prosecution of the war, by land and sea, with a degree of suc- 
cess unri-s^aled in the history of warfare. At the close of the 
struggle, he directed the conclusion of a peace, which, recog- 
nizing the purposes of the war and the obligations arising 
from its prosecution, forever banished Spanish rule from the 
Western Hemisphere, and took upon the Nation the supreme 
duty of raising to political manhood and capacity for self- 
government many millions of oppressed people in distant is- 
lands of the sea. Under his benign leadership, sectional strife 
and bitterness were forever banished from the country. It 
was his privilege to behold, at the close of the war, a country 
united as never before, recognized as one of the foremost peo- 
ples of the earth. Secure in the confidence and love of his 
countrjanen, at a great festival of peace, with words of con- 
cord and goodwill upon his lips, by the cruel hand of an assas- 
sin, he was suddenly stricken unto death. That such a man 
could thus be cruelly slain demands at the hands of the Amer- 
ican Congress and the Legislatures of the States the enact- 
ment of such laws as will, when efficiently enforced in the 
courts, do all that law can do to make a repetition of such 

8 



monstrous deeds impossible. If, from this time forth, our 
people shall put down malicious attacks upon law and govern- 
ment; shiall prevent the dissemination of the doctrines of an- 
archy, and punish as treason attacks upon the Government, 
through the person of its Chief Magistrate, we may indeed be- 
lieve that our beloved President has not died in vain. 

Of those traits of character, which made him a most de- 
voted and loving husband, land endeared him to us as the gen- 
tlest and kindest of friends, we may not now trust ourselves 
to speak. Loving his home, and looking forward with undis- 
guised joy to the day when he could lay down the cares of 
state to become again a citizen and neighbor, it is difficult to 
realize that we are never more to feel the pressure of his 
friendly hand, or look upon the manly beaoity of his noble 
face. Xoble and true in life, he met death with an heroic 
fortitude that was sublime. "His will, not ours, be done," 
was the simple expression of the faith of his Fathers, in which 
he had lived, and in which he died. 

Woi-ds are inadequate to express the deep sympathy 
which we extend to the sorrowing companion and family in 
their affliction. Unconsciously, but none the less accurately, 
he depicted liis own character and career, when he said of Gar- 
field, his lamented predecessor: 

"In him we find the best representative of the possibilities 
of American life. Boy and man he typifies American youth 
and manhood, and illustrates the benefits and glory of our 
free institutions. He did not flash forth as a meteor: he rose 
with measured and stately step over rough paths and through 
years of rugged work. He earned his passage to every prefer- 
ment. He was tried and tested at every step in tlie pathway 
of progress. He produced his passport to ever\^ gateway of 

9 



opportimity and glorj. His State siistained him, and at last 
the Nation rewarded his courage and consistency with the 
highest honors it could bestow." 

WILLIAM R. DAY, 
WILLIAM A. LYNCH, 
JOSEPH FREASE. 
RALPH S. AI^LBLER, 
JAMES J. CLARK, 
PRANK L. BALDWIN, 
DAVID FORDING, 

Committee. 



10 



MAn$$ of . . . 



Mf. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar : 

Our tlioug-hts today turn from the image of a lamented Presi- 
dent, mourned of all mankind, loved of all people, forever secure 
in the history of his country's great leaders, to the young and 
buoj^ant presence, w^hich came into this community thirt3^-four 
years ago to begin the struggle of life in his chosen profession. 
The world is filled with the praises of all men for his achievements 
at the head of one of the most eventful administrations in our 
history. We know that when he took up the reins of government, 
he found his country distracted with rumors of war, her industry 
depressed, her people divided, her true place in the world's family 
unrecognized and unappreciated. We know that under his leader- 
ship, the fires of sectional hatred have forever gone out. Our 
people are united as never before; a dominion of more than four 
hundred years of colonial misrule and oppression has forever end- 
ed; the bounds of freedom made wider by the acquisition of new 
people; a nation potent in the gTeat affairs of the world, with do- 
mestic happiness and prosperity abounding at home. We know 
that another great character has been added to the world's lead- 
ers, taken in the zenith of his fame to a place among the immor- 
tals. 

Today we turn to thoughts of what our departed brother was 
to us, and to pay the last sad tribute of affection to one, who 
never lost his interest in the companions of his young manhood, 
whose welfare was ever near to his heart. 

Mr. Lincoln, in the year 1850, prepared notes for a lecture to 
law students, in which he said: 

"Discourage litigation — persuade your neighbors to compro- 
mise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal win- 
ner is often the real loser — ^in fees, expenses and waste of time. 
As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being 
a good man. There will still be business enough. 

Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found 
than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he 
who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of de- 
fects of titles whereon to stir up strife, and put money in his 

11 



pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession 
which should drive such men out of it." 

To the class of lawyers who discourage litigation, who act the 
peacemaker between neighbors, and do all they can to keep clients 
out of court rather than to help them when in it, William McKin- 
ley belonged. He always recognized that disputes must arise, 
which can only be settled by orderly controversy and decision, 
and that man has not yet devised a better method of settlement 
than by honorable and orderly forensic discussion, "When eye 
looks into eye and voice responds to voice" in a forum governed 
by law. 

It was Major Mclvinley's ambition in his early years to be- 
come a lawyer, and the widest horizon of his hopes took in as the 
grand prize to be striven for, a place upon the Common Pleas 
bench of his District. That he would have made a good judge, no 
one doubts who is familiar with the strength and fairness of his 
mind and his intuitive sense of justice and right so essential to 
success upon the bench. 

The war and its four years of service, destroying his hope of 
further collegiate instruction, nevertheless broadened and 
strengthened his character, taught him to submit to reverses, to 
be moderate in success, to be cool, self-reliant, watchful and cour- 
ageous; qualities as essential to the lawyer as to the soldier. 

When the young lawyer came to Canton, he opened an office 
in the same building Avith one of Canton's famous lawyers. Judge 
George W. Belden. Judge Belden had been upon the bench and 
was United States District Attorney for Northern Ohio under Mr. 
Buchanan, and as such prosecuted the famous Slave Rescue 
Case tried at Cleveland in 1859, The young lawyer attracted the 
attention of Judge Belden. In those days a Canton lawyer worked 
in his office evenings as well as in the day time. One evening 
Judge Belden brought a file of papers into Major McKinley's office 
telling him the case would be argued next morning and he wished 
him to argue it. TTiis was sudden, but there were some hours be- 
fore morning, and these the young advocate devoted to prepara- 
tion. The next daj' the case was called and Major McKinley ar- 
gued and won it. Judge Belden offered him a partnership. The 
offer was accepted, and from that time his position at the bar was 
secure. 

As Prosecuting Attorney, he never allowed private malice to 
control public prosecution, and made it a rule never to recommend 
an indictment unless the proof warranted the belief that the ac- 
cused was guilty. He soon became engaged in important civil 
causes. He tried a great variety of them. He was in many of the 
leading cases in the county. 

12 



In a famous case of alleged malpractice he was associated 
with John McSweeney and William A. Lynch for the defense. In 
this companionship of great lawyers, he did not suffer by compari- 
son. 

At one time there was a great strike in the Massillon coal re- 
gion. Riot ensued. The militia was called out; men were arrested 
and brought to Canton under strong guard for trial. They appeal- 
ed to Major McKinley to aid in their defense. He investigated 
the case and found some of the men had been ^vTongfully accused 
of complicity in the acts of violence charged. He undertook their 
defense, and was successful in securing an acquittal of the major- 
ity of them. Eealizing their hardships he refused all compensa- 
tion for his services. 

In the trial of a case Major McKinley gained the confidence of 
the jury by the fairness and courtesy of his conduct, and into all 
his arguments was thrown the silent but potent influence of a 
character beyond reproach. 

To the Court, he was thorough and logical, and always fair; 
to a jury, he had the same power of epigrammatic expression 
w^hich has enabled him to state party policies and political views 
in phrases which compass a great truth in a few plain words. He 
had the faculty of putting things so that the jury could readily 
comprehend and follow his arguments. He spoke to them as he 
has since spoken to the people, appealed to their judgments and 
understanding rather than to passion or prejudice. 

When he went into Congress in '1S77, as'he often said, he found 
his legal experience of great benefit to him. In Congress he 
served on the Judiciary Committee of the House with some of the 
best lawyers in the country. In that service legal knowledge and 
judgment are essential to success. He bore his full share in the 
discussion and decision of the important matters which came be- 
fore that body. 

The election of Judge Taylor, as Gen. Garfield's successor in 
the House, raised a novel and important qiiestion of law. Gen. 
Garfield was elected to Congress from the Nineteenth Ohio Dis- 
trict. His subsequent elevation to the Senate, followed by his 
election to the Presidency, necessitated the resignation of his seat 
in the House. In the meantime the Ohio Legislature had gerry- 
mandered the district so as to change somewhat the territorial 
construction of the Nineteenth District. Was Gen. Garfield's suc- 
cessor to be chosen in the old or new district? This was purely 
a question of law. Major McKinley's presentation of it to the House 
is a model of compact and clear legal discussion. It is such an ar- 
gnment as might have been addressed to the Supreme Court had 
the question been pending there. 

13 



His speech on "Counting a Quorum" in the Fifty-first Con- 
gress, is the most full and complete i^resentation of that question 
made in the House. It is a demonstration of the absurdity of 
members effecting a constructive absence by remaining silent in 
their places when public matters are to be voted upon. 

Here is a specimen paragraph which well illustrates his style 
of legal argument: "Now, Mr. Speaker, what is the question? 
What are we contending about? We are contending as to how it 
shall be ascertained that we have a constitutional majority in the 
House. We insist, and the Speaker's ruling so declares, that mem- 
bers in their seats shall be counted, for the purpose of making a 
quorum, and that their refusal to respond to their names upon a 
call of the roll, though present, shall not deprive this house of 
moving in the discharge of great public duties and stop all legis- 
lation. Gentlemen upon the other side insist upon what? That 
they shall perpetuate a fiction — that is what it is — that they shall 
perpetuate a iiction because they say it is hoary with age; a fic- 
tion that declares that although members are present in their 
seats they shall be held to be constructively absent. That is what 
they are contending for. We are contending that this shall be a 
fact and a truth, not a fiction and a falsehood, and that members, 
who sit in their seats in this hall shall be counted as present, be- 
cause they are present. They want the Journal to declare a lie; 
we want the Journal to declare the truth. 

"Let us be honest with each other and with the country. Let us 
defeat bills in a constitutional way, or not at all; give freedom of 
debate, opportunity of amendment, the aye and nay vote, by which 
the judgment and will of every representative can be expressed and 
responsibility fixed where it belongs, and we will preserve our own 
self-respect, give force to the constitution of the country we have 
sworn to obey, and serve the people whose trust we hold." 

Major McKinley's speech in advocating the passage of a Bill, 
providing for arbitration to settle controversies between inter- 
state carriers and their employes, is a fine specimen of legal ar- 
gument. His views are thus summarized; 

The features of a successful arbitration law are: 

1. Arbitration should be authorized and favored — not com- 
pelled, and should be free of expense to the parties. 

2. The parties themselves should retain the right of selecting 
their own arbitrators, if they so desire. 

3. Awards of arbitration should rest for their sanction 
upon their own manifest justice and merits. This, of course, 
would not apply where the parties covenant in advance for other 
means of enforcement. 

14 



4. Investigation into causes of strikes, etc., when made, 
should be thorough and impax-tial; and when disagreements con- 
tinue after awards of investigation, the facts should be laid be- 
fore the public. 

Legal training is apparent in a mind that could thus forecast 
the difficulties and embody the essentials of a successful arbitra- 
tion law. While he was Governor of Ohio, a law was passed based 
on these principles. It worked admirably. An efficient Board of 
Arbitration was appointed. Many difficulties which threatened 
the peace of the State have been amicably and satisfactorily set- 
tled. 

He ever believed legal training and discipline one of the best 
of preparations for success in public life. It was a common ex- 
pression of his when looking for someone to execute an important 
task, "Find me the best lawyer you can who will undertake the 
work." 

His confidence in the profession was shown, among other 
things, in the fact that when he died, the heads of the two great 
departments of War and Navy were filled with distinguished abil- 
ity by members of our profession. 

From the time he opened his office in Canton until he closed 
his career in his tragic death, his was a continuous growth and 
development. With steady poise he arose equal to every occasion, 
and proved himself competent to the great opportunities of his 
career. 

He never tired of repeating the incidents of his professional 
life, and while he would probably never have resumed the practice 
of his profession, his countrymen would have insisted upon the 
benefit of his counsel and advice in the great afEairs which are 
sure to crowd upon our attention in the future. 

No man had greater right to hold life dear than had William 
McKinley on that fatal day when he was stricken. 

He had earned a place in history seldom accorded to man. He 
was loved of the people, as has been triithfully said, as no other 
President was ever loved while in office. He had been tried sorely, 
and his patience, wisdom and courage had raised him to the high- 
est place in the confidence of his countrymen. The great prob- 
lems of his administration were in the way of successful solution. 
The home he loved was to be his resting place, and the friends of 
his youth the companions of his retirement. The life of his dear 
companion had been graciously spared, and together they might 
hope for many years of comfort when the responsibility of office 
was laid aside. These things, and more, must have been before his 

15 



fading vision when he beheld the conqueror of all men at his bed- 
side, and he did not falter. 

Nobly as he had lived, so passed the grand heroic soul avpay. 

To the surviving members of this bar, where he lived and 
wrought, he has left the light of his example and the precious 
memory of his friendship, more dear to us now than all the trib- 
utes with which the world will crown his memory. 



16 



Address of . . . 

m. mn\m n, cyncb. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

The sixth of September will ever be a black-letter day in the 
American calendar. What a universal thrill of horror smote the 
American heart! How the Nation stood aghast, incredulous, ap- 
palled. 

Then as death tarried on the threshold, first came a faint 
shred of hope, like the first sign of morning, long before the break 
of day; and as days passed slowly, how it grew, growing- brighter 
and stronger until hope seemed certainty, and the general feeling 
became almost an outbiarst of joy at the prospect of speedy re- 
covery. But alas, we rejoiced too soon. The bitter end came at 
last, and today, in common with all our countrymen, we stand 
overwhelmed in the profoundest sorrow. 

It is certainly fitting that the bar of Stark County should 
meet, as is the established custom, to notice the death of our de- 
parted brother, and to place upon the records of the court its tes- 
timony of his worth, and an expression of its sense of the Na- 
tion's loss. 

For myself, I am grateful that after fifteen j^ears of almost 
unbroken absence, I am permitted to come back and participate 
in these mournful proceedings. 

I knew William McKinley well. When he came here upon a 
visit, before coming- to settle, T made his acquaintance, and when 
he was admitted to the bar and came here to begin his life's work, 
I gave him the hand of fellowship and welcome, for but few young- 
men were then at this bar — and we became friends — a friendship, 
I am proud to say, continued unbroken by the contests of profes- 
sional life, undisturbed by differences of political faith, from that 
day to the day of his untimely death. 

And now, as I stand here on this site of our early strugg-les, 
looking back over that more than a third of a hundred years, 
what memories throng upon me! 

How well I remember our first long walk and talk, and the 
many walks and talks that followed, and the discussions of our 
early cases, then so important and of such absorbing interest! 
And well I recall the long ride we once took in going to deliver 

17 



addresses at a celebration of the Fourth of July; and how full he 
was of the prospects of happiness xipon his engagement to her 
who is now his disconsolate and broken-hearted widow. 

I remember as though it was yesterday, his first case in court. 
It was not a weighty cause, but it gave him that chance so im- 
portant to the young lawyer, to appear in court, and how well he 
improved the opportunity. I can see him now as he stood before 
the court for the first time, young, eager, ambitious, well-pre- 
pared, self-posted, but not over-confident; how he impressed me 
as he arose and told the court "What we contend for in this law 
suit." I recall the very words of his opening. 

As a result of that maiden effort he was at once offered a 
partnership by ex-Judge Belden, one of Stark County's ablest law- 
yers, but then retiring from active practice. This connection 
brought business and opportunities to appear before the courts, 
and for ten years he devoted himself to active work in the profes- 
sion. The trend of his abilities and ambition led him toward ad- 
vocacy rather than counseling or office work, and he took advan- 
tage of every occasion to appear at the bar and take part in the 
trial of causes. He became a good trial lawyer, diligent in prepar- 
ation, conscientious in his work, absolutel.y true to his client, 
and during his first ten years at the bar, he took part in many of 
the most important causes that were tried here. 

When but two years at the bar he was elected Prosecuting 
Attorne3% and discharged the duties with marked ability and suc- 
cess. During those ten years I was in manj^ cases with and 
against him, and you will all agree with me that if there is any re- 
lation in life that will give one a better knowledge of a man than 
trying a case with him, it is trying one against him. 

Looking back now to those years of almost constant struggle 
on the same or opposite sides of the bar table, I desire to say that 
Mr. McKinley was a good lawyer, an able advocate, and had he 
continued the pursuit of the law throughout his active life, he 
would have been rated as one of the strongest lawyers and most 
persuasive advocates. 

When I learned from the papers that two of the ablest law- 
yers of the Buffalo bar, upon assignment of the court, had under- 
taken the defense of the miserable wretch that brought this 
gloom upon us, I felt how thoroughly he would, if he could, have 
approved of their course, and their high conception of a lawyer's 
duty. For my mind went back to the time when he himself con- 
ducted the defense of one who was charged with the attempted 
assassination of two of our leading citizens, one a prominent 
member of this bar, and made a strong defense, based on the sup- 

18 



posed insufficiency of evidence, which was wholly circumstantial. 

It is not my purpose to speak of Mr. McKinle^^'s political 
career, but there is one fact in connection with his early life that 
is not without interest. In those days members of the Republican 
party took different views upon some important public questions, 
notably that of Negro Suffrage. Some were radical, others were 
conservative. In the year he came here, 1867, he took an active 
part in the speaking campaign for his party. The result for the 
County and State was in doubt, and before it Avas settled Mr. Mc- 
Kinley declared that there was one candidate on the ticket for 
whose success he was especially anxious. It was supposed he re- 
ferred to his friend, General R. B. Hayes, who was then candidate 
for Governor. "No," he said, "my especial candidate is Negro 
Suffrage." That was the year in which that question was sub- 
mitted to the popular vote of the people of this State; but, al- 
though the Republican party carried the State by heavy majorities 
both before and after that election, the proposition for Negro 
Suffrage received but 216,000 votes out of a total of over five hun- 
dred and forty thousand. Mr. McKinley was counted a Radical. 

Of our deceased brother's political life and services I shall not 
speak, for they are household knowledge from Maine to Cali- 
fornia, but I cannot refrain from speaking briefly of the elements 
of character which made his great career possible. Looking back 
to his early efforts in court, and from that to the end, the under- 
lying element of success has always appeared to me conspicuous 
— his self reliance. In all his public efforts that came to my know- 
ledge, from the first court argument to his last public address at 
Buffalo, which I cannot but regard as one of the most fortunate 
for his enduring fame as a statesman, he showed that fundamen- 
tal element of self-reliance. 

With equal clearness appears another great line of character 
— steadfastness of purpose. He was careful, deliberate, prone to 
consult and to weigh well before adopting a course. But I, who 
did not often agree with him politically, venture the statement 
that few public men have shown so consistent a course in a long- 
public life. 

But of more importance still was that homely virtue which we 
call "common honesty." In his long career in public office, what 
opportunities offered to prefer and enrich himself! To what 
mighty temptations must a weak man have been subjected occupy- 
ing the place and Avielding the power he did when chairman of the 
Committee on Ways and Means. But what partisanship or 
jealousy dared to say, or to think of sajang, that one dishonest 
dollar ever crossed the palm of William McKinley? Do not imag- 

19 



me that I am giving him special credit for this. It is the rig-ht of 
the country that its public men should be honest; but the young 
raen of the land who look to his career for inspiration must learn 
well the lesson that such a career was impossible unless founded 
on the most unyielding personal integrity. 

But now, Mr. Chairman, I cannot be so selfish as to take more 
of the time of this session, when there are so many who must wish 
to speak. I have come here to add a few simple words to the 
great chorus of eulogy that has sounded throughout the land, yes, 
throughout the world. I must admit, Mr. Chairman, that when I 
stood here thirty j^ears ago, struggling over the question whether 
the line fence between two farms should stand where it was, or 
be moved a rod one way or the other, I did not realize that the 
lawj'er on the other side of that petty issue would one day fix the 
boundaries of our National Domain. I did not anticipate his great 
career. But I knew then, as the country has since come to know, 
that William McKinley was a man of constant growth; studious 
and industrious, he enlarged by experience. His career in Con- 
gress M'as a great training in public affairs. Yet his personal 
labors were so largely confined to one great measure that some 
called him a man of one idea. But when he became Governor of 
our State, new questions were brought to him and he showed his 
broadening power. Few men have so grown under the pressure 
of new questions. In his last great office he displayed great re- 
serve of intellectual strength and power of will; he showed the 
accumulative efPect of years of training. He displayed a match- 
less power in the control of men that comes from years of experi- 
ence. Tact, strength and wisdom blended happily in his conduct 
of public affairs. His fame is secure. He is enrolled forever as 
one of our martyred Presidents. Whatever history may say of 
his policies, of his character there will be no doubt. He lived a 
gTeat life. He was able; he Avas honest; he was patriotic; he died 
the beloved of all people. 



20 



Address of . 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

If Your Honor please, not being a resident of this county, I 
came here today in answer to the very kindly invitation of the 
members of this bar, who, on account of my long association with 
them have kindly treated me as a quasi member, and so invited 
me to this meeting. I came, not intending to say a word, but by 
my silent presence to bear witness to the high esteem in which I 
have always held the distinguished member of this bar who has 
gone to his account, and to thus testify my affection for him 
whom I have known so well. 

It is now thought that I should say a word, and so, called on, 
I cannot hesitate to give some expression to my feelings, and per- 
haps it is right that I should say something on this occasion, as I 
suspect that of those who are present today, I had the earliest 
acquaintance with William McKinley. 

I first knew him as a boy in the neighboring county where he 
then resided. I knew him as a student of the law with my then 
associate on the bench, the late Judge Glidden, of this district. 
I knew him afterwards when he came to Canton to commence the 
practice of his profession, and knew something — but not as much 
as his brethren residing here — of his experiences as a member of 
this bar, before he entered into political life, 

I had the honor to represent this district at the time of his 
first visit to the Capital of the Country. As my guest he first en- 
tered the hall of the House of Representatives at Washington— 
which he afterwards honored so highly. My seat, as the then 
member from this district, in the Forty-first Congress, was the 
first seat in that hall that he ever sat in, and I have since been 
proud that the seat was so graced. 

I knew Mr. McKinley professionally, politically and socially, 
for more than a third of a century, and, I think, had abundant 
means for forming a proper estimate of his character, mentally, 
socially and morally, and I can very heartily endorse what has 
been so well said today by the distinguished gentlemen who have 
preceded me on this occasion. 

It would be idle for me to attempt to go into any detail. Any 

21 



words that I might use would but feebly express my high appreci- 
ation of him as a man, a lawyer, a member of Congress, and Chief 
Magistrate of this country. 

He was a great man. Great in his earnestness of purpose, in 
his integrity, his foresight and his confidence in the common peo- 
ple, on whose judgment he was wont to rely. While he sometimes 
was slow in forming opinions, and had the habit of hesitating un- 
til the subject for consideration had been well weighed, and his 
judgment well matured; but, when he had made up his mind, he 
had the courage of his convictions, and did not hesitate in action. 
And the people at large, whom he believed in as the proper rulers 
of the country, had confidence in him in a very marked degree, 
and supported his policy to the end. "Wliat a magnificent Presi- 
dent he made! How he graced the office and the office him! 

What a magnificent presence he had! It was my fortune, 
when I was younger and he a young man, and when I had some lit- 
tle connection with the politics of the State, to frequently be with 
him in public places amongst those who then saw him for the 
first time, and I could name dozens of people of prominence, who, 
struck by his appearance, eagerly inquired who he was. He had a 
singularly noble presence, and his presence was expressive of his 
nobility of character. 

When I think of the manner of his death, it is too much— I 
cannot speak. We are all deeply impressed by the horror of his 
assassination, and I think we all feel that the dreadful act, so 
without cause or excuse, gives color to the claim of Mr. Lewis — 
his counsel by appointment of the court— that the assassin was in 
some sense insane— not legally insane, for it is evident that the 
miserable scoundrel knew and intended the consequence, on ac- 
count of which w^e mourn today. 

I will not detain you longer; it is not right that I should. 
Many of you, his brethren and fellow tovnismen — his neighbors — 
whose association was by reason of being his neighbors more 
continuously close and intimate, are better prepared to speak of 
him, and I have no right to take your time, for they can more 
worthily speak on this occasion. 



22 



JIddre$$ of . . . 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar : 

I had not expected to be called upon for any remarks, and I 
do not intend to say more than a word or two. Perhaps all that 
I should do at this time is to suggest one important lesson which 
the world, and this country, especially, must learn from the death 
of our beloved ruler. 

It was my privilege to be present at the trial which took 
place last Monday and Tuesday, and I was impressed with the 
thought which was enforced in the speech for the defense, made 
by Judge Lewis, when he referred to the importance of vindicat- 
ing the majesty of the law in this land. The manner in which 
that trial was conducted leaves no excuse for the advocate of 
lynch law; and yet the trial, though speedy, was not conducted 
with any undue haste, but the defendant was given every oppor- 
tunity which an enlightened and humane law has extended to 
those accused of crime. I have heard a good many criminal trials 
— I have presided at some — but I never expect again to witn^ess a 
trial where the counsel for the defendant, doing as well as he 
could a disagreeable duty which had been thrust upon him, did 
it so ably and so well, and yet, at the close of his remarks, gave 
way to tears, not for the defendant for whom he was speaking, 
but for the victim of that defendant's crime. The last words of 
the able advocate were: "The death of the President is the sad- 
est blow I have ever received," and he took his seat with the 
tears streaming down his face. Notwithstanding that this crime 
was so shocking to all our citizens, and so inexcusable as to bring 
such tears to the eyes of the defendant's advocate, yet there was 
no clamor of a mob calling for lynch law. At this time, when 
some men — one even as high as a United States Senator — have 
allowed themselves to give utterance to words justifying lynch 
law, it is certainly encouraging that there was no attempt at 
mob violence, and a trial held with all the elements of fairness 
and justice which surrounded the case at Buifalo this week. 

Though the death of our President has saddened the hearts 
of his countrymen, let us hope that his own words of protection 
for the assassin, when he was stricken down, and the history of 

23 



this trial, may go a long way toward ending the prevalence of 
lynch law in this land. 

Our beloved President has gone to his reward, but his name 
will remain for generations to come as an incentive to every true 
American lad. William McKinley was not a spasmodic reformer. 
He was not a man to plant a flagstaff, and attach a banner of 
reform to be torn down bj^ the next gale, but any reform which 
he advocated was planted like a tree. It was watered and cared 
for, and today many of the laws which he was instrumental in 
framing, some of which have been referred to today, are stand- 
ing like thrifty trees, and will give shade and refreshment to his 
fellow citizens in all the ages which are to come. 



24 



Hddress of . . . 

Bon. Isaac B. Caylor. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar : 

Neither did 1 come here to speak on this sad occasion. I 
came here to listen to men more eloquent and more able to do 
honor to this illustrious dead— and we are here todaj^ to do honor 
to a great, a grand and a good man. Great as a soldier and pa- 
triot; great as a member of Congress; great as the Governor of 
this great commonwealth; great as the President of this great 
Nation, but greater and grandest of all in his domestic and Chris- 
tian life. What he has done as a statesman— his record as a 
statesman— after a while will be remembered as history. The 
example he has left us of a pure life and of a Christian character 
will be remembered by our households while there are house- 
holds; it will be remembered in our families while there are fam- 
ilies. And that noble expression of his: "It is God's way, His 
will, not ours, be done," will live side by side with the teachings, 
and with that expression of the great Apostle to the Gentiles: "I 
have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept 
the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
ness which the Lord will give." The faith expressed in that sen- 
timent, and the resignation expressed in that sentiment, ^\^ll live 
side by side with the expression of the patient man of old: "The 
Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, and blessed be the name of 
the Lord forever." 

His act at the time of his most foul murder, when he lifted his 
hand and pleaded that his friends might not tear his foul assassin 
to pieces— that is not his language, but that is his sentiment- 
will live side by side with the expression of the Divine Teacher 
as long as the Christian religion is taught on earth, and until its 
final triumph, when He said: "Lord, forgive them, they know not 
what they do." These are the things which will be remembered 
when his record as a statesman may be remembered as history 
only. 

I knew Mr. McKinley first when he came to Carroll County to 
make his canvass, when he was first a candidate for Congress. I 
had seen him before, but I got to know him during that campaign. 
I remember that those who wanted the office said, and that those 

25 



who were friends of the other candidates said, "It is all on the 
surface, when you see Mr. McKinley you see all there is of him; 
he will go to Congress, he will remain there for a term or two, 
and that will be the end of it." How he must have surprised and 
disappointed them, for his growth was imiform and regular until 
he achieved the highest station in life. There were no haltings 
in his progress; there were no backward stejis in his character 
and his career. I had the honor to be in the Forty-ninth Congress; 
he was in that Congress, and the Kepublicans were in the minor- 
ity. Mr. Eeed was the Republican leader on the floor, by reason 
of his caucus nomination for speaker, yet Mr. McKinley was the 
real, substantial leader of the House, and particularly on tariff 
matters and tariff legislation. While he took an active part in all 
that -was going on, he spoke but seldom, but vrhen he did speak, 
or it was known he was about to speak, every eye Avas turned 
toward him. The House was all attention. The country -was all 
attention. 

When have we had such another example — when has any coun- 
try had an example of so complete, and so perfect, and so well 
rounded out a character of a great man, of a grand man, of a 
good man, as in the history and life of President McKinley? 



26 



JIddrcss of . . . 

l)on. 3atne$ n. Rice. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar : 

I regret that I am compelled to leave this gathering before all 
who will and ought to speak have done so, and I offer this as my 
excuse for saying a w^ord at this time, and at what appears to me 
out of turn. 

It is interesting to me, as a younger member of the bar, to 
listen to the beautiful truths told of William McKinley by the 
members' who knew him during his younger days, and, in fact, 
throughout his life. It occurs to me that in their knowledge of 
and acquaintance with him, they have been highly favored and 
greatly rewarded. We younger men learned to know him slightly, 
but well enough to cause us to love and admire his personality. 
In his untimely death it seems to me we sustain the greater loss. 

I have thought many times, especially during this past sum- 
mer, as I so often passed his home and received his pleasant sal- 
utation, what a privilege, what a comfort, and what a great pleas- 
ure it would "be to us all to have him again among us after his re- 
tirement "from public office. 

His patience with and cordiality toward young men promised 
much to us younger members of this bar. 

It is a source of pleasure to me now that in all that I have 
said and done in a political way, I have never said or done any- 
thing in reference to President McKinley that causes me any re- 
gret. His opponents could not but love and respect him, because 
of his love and admiration for them, if they were but honest and 

One of the noblest of his qualities is evidenced by the fact 
that he never quarreled with an enemy. 

I knew the brightness of his nature and the warmth of his 
heart. I know, therefore, that those of us who had been his sin- 
cere and honorable opponents were to receive from him, when he 
returned to live among us, the same cordial greeting that would 
be extended to those of you who had always been his political 
friends and supporters. , 

I feel deeply the loss of the man and citizen, and I grieve with 
the Nation. 

27 



He was too good a man; he was too great a man to be taken 
away as he was. Of all men he should have been permitted to live 
oiit his full time. Good, true and noble as was his life, it is too 
bad that the world had to lose a single moment of its natural 
period. 



38 



n Poem by . . . 

€l)arU$ Kricbbaum. 



Come back to rest at home, 

Your labors done, come home. 

You drank the martyr's cup 

To lift divinely up 

The Nation's sacred life 

Beyond the reach of knife 

Or shot of miscreant. 

Our better natures chant 

You requiems of love. 

Your death's won deathless love. 

The JS'atiou now is bound 

By bonds not to be found 

Except in such as come 

Through holy martyrdom. 

All party spirit's dumb 

By deathless love o'ercome. 

Not fearful of the fate 

That hangs above the great, 

A ruler plain you stood, 
Seeking the common good. 
You the foremost citizen, 
Communing with your countrymen— 
What more fitting place to be, 
For apostle of democracy. 
Your grasp of friendly hand 
Like the touch magic wand 
Thrilled through the people's blood 
Sweet human brotherhood. 
Poor poison-minded man! 
Confusion curst the plan 
By which you sought to kill. 
By vicious cunning skill. 
The people's government. 
God quick His mercy lent. 
Made good, what ill was meant, 
Scarce could you, poor ingrate, 
Your foul deed consummate, 
Till buttressed was the government 
By high and lofty sentiment, 
29 



That stood like bastions wide 

Four square on every side 

The fabric reared through blood and 

tears 
By Washington and his compeers. 
The Nation's righteous ire 
Leaps up with ardent fire. 
Our pulses now beat strong 
In diviner mood 'gainst wrong. 
We've found a new and better wealth 
In manhood pure. ±\. sturdier health 
Springs conquering in the Nation's 

breast. 
Its aims are high, it craves the best; 
Eejects the poisoned fruits 
Of self-enforced idleness, 
The crude, unkempt recruits 
Of anarchy's bad prophetess; 
The spawn of dive philosophy, 
Malevolence, and black atrocity; 
Dregs, of the struggling human race, 
W^ho aspire downwards, and who ef- 
face 
The stars of hope, whose faith is 

dead; 
Whose bread is murder, and whose 

light is red. 
God save us from such hideous night! 
God flood our path with holy light! 
Toil, service and obedience. 
Through love and truth and rever- 
ence. 
Make up the sacred plan 
By which God builds a man. 
'Long this highway our martyr came 
To wholesome fruitful fame. 
God took him in the golden prime 
Of his fair life. Remorseless time 
Will never dim his lustrous name. 
For j^ears bej'ond our ken, his fame 
Our glorious heritage remains. 
Ours are imperishable gains! 
The choicest civic fruit 
Grown from the sturdy shoot 
Of Scotland's hardy race. 

SO 



Classic, gi-and, ideal face, 

Benignant, human, kind, 

Long-suiiering', deep, refined. 

A prince of lovers too. 

Chivalrous through and through. 

Here statesman, soldier, friend. 

In perfect man did blend; 

Sure faith in God and man, 

Ideal American. 

As long as love of home 

And countrj^ shall endure. 

Will trooping- thousands come 

To pay you homage pure. 

The flag we all revere. 

Shall daily, year by year. 

In Heaven's shining- stars. 

And blue of sky, and bars 

Of sunset, white and red. 

Fall peaceful on your bed. 

Your life's a river pure. 

The streams whereof are sure 

To gladden all the hearts. 

And water all the parts 

Of our dear Native Land. 

Long may it glorious stand — 

The land of every land the best. 

The asylum for the world's op- 
pressed; 

Where high and low have equal 
chance. 

In man's blood-bought inheritance; 

Where man's the finest fruit 

That earth holds tip to God; 

Where progress finds her strong re- 
cruit 

His feet with justice shod. 

We are God's people yet; 

Nor shall we soon forget, 

That love can rule, and die 

For that it ruled, and by 

A Christian death mount high 

To goodly fame, where lie, 

In their immortal beauty. 

Above the "toppling crags of duty," 

Climbed with his own feet and hands, 



God's shining tablelands. 

Come home, come home to rest, 

With them that knew you best. 

In Westlawn's sacred sod. 

Where, tender gifts of God, 

Youi- children sleep, and where 

Your kindred folks are, there, 

There, find enduring sleep 

Where those you loved can weep, 

And dimly see through breaking mists 

of gloom 
The deathless angel in your tomb. 
With boundless love we follow you 
Through the golden sunset sea. 
By your own faith we follow you 
Into the far eternity. 
Into the far off land to be 
Oh, gentle ruler of the free. 



32 



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